NORTHGLENN — Paul Lujan had an opportunity to get carried away, but he passed.
The senior right-hander had just pitched Northglenn to a 10-0 victory in a showdown against Prairie View on Thursday at Larry Walker Field. It pushed the host Norse to the East Metro Athletic Conference championship at 11-1 and made their overall mark an impressive 13-4-1.
But did Lujan — who pitched a three-hit shutout, striking out nine and walking only one — gloat?
He did not.
“It was a good day pitching, but I couldn’t have done it without my team,” Lujan said. “(We) came through with the sticks. We all played a role in winning this championship.”
Then Lujan let it flow. The Class 5A Norse will finish with a nonleaguer against Horizon on Monday, then await the release of the 32-team district playoff bracket Wednesday by the Colorado High School Activities Association.
“It will be a nice wait,” Lujan said. “We’ve got a lot of time to get ready, and we want to make a lot of noise in the playoffs. We’re not stopping.”
Northglenn last won league titles from 2002-03 while in the Front Range.
Coach Hugo Garcia, in his 10th year leading the program, had an extra appreciation for it — the Norse were coming off their only league loss, 4-0 to Fort Lupton.
“It’s nice that it came down to this last game,” he said. “We had a baseball day on Tuesday (in the loss). Our balls didn’t fall in offensively, and it was OK. . . . We were relaxed (Wednesday) at practice, had confidence and having (Lujan) on the bump sure helps.”
The Norse got to Thunderhawks starter Dominic Cardenas early and often in building a 7-0 lead after three innings. Lujan had two hits and two RBIs. Jacob Saunders and Adam Adkins knocked in two runs apiece.
Prairie View (12-6, 10-2) will finish with 4A power Thomas Jefferson on Saturday.
Prairie View 000 000 — 0 3 4
Northglenn 043 111 — 10 14 1
Prairie View — Killen ss 3-0-1-0, Dameron lf 3-0-0-0, Cardenas p-3b 3-0-1-0, Thompson cf 2-0-0-0, Sauceda 1b 2-0-0-0, Hackney c 1-0-1-0, Shepard 3b-p 2-0-0-0, Moreno 2b 1-0-0-0, Mueller rf 2-0-0-0. Totals 19-0-3-0.
Northglenn — Balich cf 4-1-1-0, Ellerbruch lf 4-2-2-0, Lujan p 4-1-2-2, Barraza 3b 3-0-0-0, Comer ss 3-3-2-1, Montes rf 4-1-1-1, Saunders c 3-0-2-2, Pacheco dh 2-0-0-0, Varela 1b 1-0-1-1, Adkins 3-1-3-2, Dean cr 0-1-0-0. Totals 31-10-14-9.
E — Comer, Thompson, Mueller, Sauceda 2. LOB — Prairie View 3, Northglenn 6. CS — Moreno, Hackney. 2B — Cardenas, Comer 2, Ellerbruch. 3B — Lujan. Batteries — Cardenas, Shepard (6) and Hackney; Lujan and Saunders. W — Lujan. L — Hacney. WP — Cardenas 2. PD — Adkins. T — 1:34.
Neil H. Devlin: 303-954-1714 or ndevlin@denverpost.com
